The two Newcastle players who must be replaced by Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon vs Man City

Life can be very simple can’t it? If Newcastle are to start winning games to prevent a wonderful season disappearing down the plug hole then they have to score goals on a regular basis.

So how do they do it? Well for a start they are in a fortunate position of having two players they deemed worth £100m chomping at the bit to get going.

That is why for me Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon must start at Manchester City. Otherwise either of them has a right to ask why the club bought them for a right few quid.

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United are not scoring goals and they are two attacking players. So it is logic to give them a go now the League Cup is out of the way which prevented Gordon from playing.

Put it another way: those who are in possession of a shirt have gone right off the boil. Where Newcastle won six Premier League matches on the bounce late last year they are no longer doing the business.

Miggy Almiron rattled up nine goals in no time and was flying but he has reverted to nature while Allan Saint-Maximin for me flatters to deceive. Talented, unquestionably, but end product not a thing.

They are the two players I would leave out at City not Callum Wilson. Oh I know Wilson has dropped away dramatically until he is virtually watching the action, not taking part in it, but in my opinion he is United’s only line leader and natural goalscorer so he must be retained. It may well be that Isak and Gordon on either side of him would spark him into life.

Isak doesn’t like playing with his back to goal, Wilson does, and in any case I would like to see both of them playing together.

United have to do something and keeping the same 10 outfield players gives no one a lift. As well as they have done – and they have been magnificent – since the turn of the year they have looked jaded and lethargic.

Eddie Howe is a loyal manager but that doesn’t mean you cannot drop a favoured player if he loses form. Eddie’s first obligation is to the club that employs him not to any single player.

Anyone dropped – or rested as Eddie would prefer to say – would deep down in his heart know he has deserved it. That he needs a break out of the pressure cooker and will probably come back the better for it.

As for the defence suddenly leaking goals I think the failure of the front players has something to do with it. Knowing you possess forwards capable of sticking the ball in the net relieves pressure on the defence both collectively and individually.

They know that a single mistake will not necessarily mean sacrificing two points or three points. Right now it does. The defence looks on edge to me at the moment.

United stand at the crossroads. They can mount a challenge for a Champions League place or they can continue to drift and get overtaken by Liverpool and maybe Fulham, Brighton and Brentford.

Yes, City is a tough match but we mustn’t give it up before kicking off. And in the matches that follow draws must be turned into wins.

Draw against the likes of Wolves, Nottingham Forest and West Ham which has been the league form of late and United will drift towards middle ground. Win and everything is back on the table.

City are a fantastic side and if Newcastle are timid they will get overpowered. There is only one way to play them and that is the way that brought United a 3-3 draw at St James’ Park when they deservedly led 3-1 after an hour.

Teams need to be bold against City, attack them, because when the ball is in City’s half they cannot score. United will not be able to defend constantly for an hour and a half and keep a clean sheet.

It is no good giving up the game before we start. Fortune favours the bold. However how United go a week later home to Wolves will set the pattern for the rest of the season.

So let us give Isak and Gordon a run in the team, not just a single game. They were deemed worth £100m of the club’s money so faith must be shown in them otherwise the cash has been wasted. Fans don’t know if they are good enough but there is only one way to find out.

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